Posted on 08/26/2007 7:08:30 PM PDT by ricks_place
Historians debate whether his stature will increase after he leaves office
WASHINGTON — If Harry S. Truman did it, why can't George W. Bush?
Truman came back from the political abyss — his public approval rating sank as low as 22 percent thanks in large part to America's entry into the Korean War and his handling of labor disputes at home — to become regarded by historians as one of the nation's top 10 presidents.
Lately, some Bush administration officials and White House associates have predicted that President Bush — mired in an unpopular war in Iraq and saddled with the low Nixon-level approval ratings — will get the Truman treatment by historians after he leaves office in January 2009.
"I think when the history is written that, in fact, it will reflect credit upon this president and his administration," Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN's Larry King last month.
Will history really give Bush the Truman bounce?
Several historians doubt it, noting that no other president other than the former haberdasher from Independence, Mo., has received such a 180-degree revision to the benefit of his legacy.
"I don't think any president has had as significant a re-evaluation as Truman," said Columbia University historian Alan Brinkley. "(Dwight) Eisenhower has risen in historical evaluation quite a lot, but not to the same degree. (James) Polk was once ranked much higher than he now usually is. I suspect (Ronald) Reagan will fluctuate a good deal over time."
Bush, Brinkley said, "does not seem to me to have many achievements that would earn him a high ranking — again, unless the Iraq war turns out, unexpectedly, to be successful in the long term."
Historians tend to rank presidents as "great," "near great," "above average," "average," "below average" or "failure." George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt routinely top most presidential surveys conducted every few years by historians and other experts.
Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt usually rank just below the top three. Truman, who produced the Marshall Plan to rebuild war-damaged Europe and the Truman Doctrine to protect free peoples from falling under communism and who decided to desegregate America's military, consistently appears on most lists.
Fading in and out of the top 10 list are James Monroe, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Eisenhower, Reagan and John F. Kennedy.
There's almost no argument among scholars about failed presidents, with Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan firmly ensconced at the bottom of the list.
Bush currently is in the middle of the pack of presidents in the most recent rankings. A 2005 survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal and the Federalist Society had Bush ranked 19 among America's 43 presidents, and a 2002 ranking by the Siena College's Research Institute listed him at 23rd.
But with 17 months left in his presidency, some historians already have predicted that Bush is destined for the failed presidents' club largely because of the Iraq war, his handling of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath and his inability to get legacy-building Social Security and immigration changes through Congress.
Robert Dallek, a Boston University history professor and the author of the book Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power, said it's too soon to call Bush a failure, but he added that the historical evidence is stacking up against the president.
"You bounce back if the person behind you is worse," said Dallek. "Ronald Reagan had Jimmy Carter. Hard to imagine that there will be a series of presidents who will make Bush look better."
Bush may not mount a Truman-like comeback, some presidential scholars say, but he may be able to inch his way up a spot or two in the rankings the way a few troubled presidents have.
Lyndon Johnson left the White House publicly and physically beaten down by his unpopular escalation of the Vietnam War. But time has helped Johnson's place in history as scholarly reviews and several books have highlighted his domestic accomplishments, which included pushing civil rights legislation through Congress, the creation of the Great Society programs and his attempt to declare war on poverty.
Then you have an extremely limited imagination, Dr. Dallek.
President Bush cut our taxes which helped us out of recession, the Clinton recession, and thus has helped in giving us one of the best economic prosperity on record.
President Bush appointed two great conservative Supreme Court Justices.
President Bush is the most pro-life President since Roe Vs Wade criminality has been established.
President Bush is one of the greatest Presidents ever, despite the lies of the left wing lunatics, the frustrated Buchaninites and faux right wing nuts and the left wing media that say otherwise.
God bless President Bush. God bless our brave troops. God bless America.
Around the same time, he also cut back our defense budget to its bare bones. He and his Secretary of Defense decided they could rely on being able to use the A-bomb.
Only after South Korea was invaded by North Korea in 1950, did Truman send underprepared and undersupplied troops back to South Korea to REWIN and defend its freedom.
30,000 Americans died in Korea in the last 30 months of Truman's presidency.
Most of them would not have been killed in Korea from 1950 to 1953 if Truman had not abandoned Korea in 1949.
Its always liberal presidential scholars who are making an effort to refurbish and revise Harry Truman`s legacy. After ordering the A-Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Truman went back to his old liberal ways. FDR`s New Deal gave way to Truman`s Fair Deal. The Fair Deal included the first attempt at nationalized health care. Truman was a liberal Democrat and proud of it too.
Amen, jveritas.
What planet does this reporter live on? LBJ's entire premise of government being the solution to everything is wildly discredited amongst anyone with a brain. Maybe that's why he is so revered by modern libs.
President Bush will have accomplished more in the ME than any other President. Iraq is only going to improve as the warlords unite with the gummit and peace begins to grow.
Pray for W and Our Troops
It is absolute idiocy when hateful liberals or few bitter conservatives say that he is the worst President ever, he did not only change the course of history in a profound way but he he also did it in a positive way.
And now people try to say that it was his policies that won the Cold War. To which I respond with incredulity and suppressed fury.
Agree 100%. The man has changed history in a very profound and positive way and only a fool and/or hateful person cannot see or admit this fact.
Amen, Amen, and Amen!!!
While I object to your characterization of people who want a secure border as “frustrated Buchananites...right-wing nuts, etc” I have to agree with you for the most part.
While I, like many others, feel betrayed by his stance on illegal immigration, I don’t let it blind me to all the good Bush has done. Unfortunately, others on FR overlook all his accomplishments in their hurt. While there’s no doubt he’s made mistakes, I think Bush will be seen as a fundamentally good president in historical hindsight.
President Bush is humble enough not to be worried about how history judges him. That is the only way a true leader can approach such monumental issues as he has tackled.
He is always going to ruffle feathers attacking such issues which is one of the reasons/media bias he is hated by so many. You can’t lead and be worried about your popularity at the same time. History will have the benefit of hindsight and will be one of the top accomplishing Presidents.
Pray for W and Our Troops
I am not saying that the people who want tougher policies against illegal immigration are bitter Buchananites, I also want these policies. I meant by bitter Buchananites the defeatists and the isolationists on our side (look at Ron Paul supporters).
Srange thing about this President,he’s put his legacy on the line mainly by demanding an open border concept that US citizens clearly reject.His no child left behind program was actually co-authored by Ted Kennedy and increased funding to existing public education in spite of claiming during his first presidential run that he would push alternatives to the system. He gave tax payers the extra cost of government payed prescription drugs for the elderly and he tried to pawn off Harriet Miers BEFORE public opinion forced him to nominate a more conservative judge !!!
Surely Jimmy Carter belongs in that circle of 4 or 5 worst Presidents, but again he benefits by being a Democrat. And to think JFK belongs in the upper ranks, when his positive accomplishments were largely confined to making a few inspiring speeches, is ludicrous. He managed not to get us all blown up at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, but better handling of Khrushchev and Cuba might have avoided the crisis altogether.
I agree 100%.
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